The present invention relates to the imaging of samples and to the management of the images with the aid of an integrated and polyvalent relational data-base.
Its general application is to the acquisition and quantitative analysis of images and, more particularly, to the applications of the life sciences based on the high-resolution and high-speed identification and measurement of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).
One particular application for it is, for example, in studies involving immunofluorescence, cytogenetics, applied genomics, cytology, molecular biology, histo-cytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and molecular pathology etc.
Numerous apparatuses for imaging biological samples by fluorescence are already known. In the patent FR-A-2532756, for example, there is a description of an apparatus for imaging by fluorescence, in which an excitation light beam is directed onto a sample arranged on a sample holder. The radiation emitted by the sample thus excited is directed towards detection means. The signals detected are then processed to acquire a corresponding image of all or some of the sample observed. In the case of fluorescence, the excitation beam is filtered in terms of wavelength in order to select the radiation of use for producing the phenomenon of fluorescence, while the radiation emitted is filtered in order to stop the radiation of no significance to the phenomenon of fluorescence.
The prior art also includes imaging apparatuses (in the patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,518 CASTLEMAN et al, for example) which furthermore comprise an electronic control unit capable of adjusting the displacement of the sample holder. Generally, the images acquired are stored in digital form in a database. With the aid of such a database, the user is able to perform tasks of data processing, of recognition of objects and of their classification (karyotyping). In practice, the user selects an image by its file name, which offers little possibility of sorting. Moreover, management of the database is generally limited to a single, relatively static, application with little possibility of development, which is awkward in terms of its interactivity with the user.